The Battle of the Labyrinth

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan was published in 2008 and is the fourth installment of the children’s fantasy adventure series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The series draws on Greek mythology, adapting its events and characters into the modern day. The Battle of the Labyrinth follows Percy (Perseus) Jackson and his demigod friends from Camp Half-Blood on a quest to stop a Titan army invasion. On a quest to find Daedalus and to stop Kronos’s army from navigating the underground Labyrinth towards Camp Half-Blood, Percy and his friends Annabeth (daughter of Athena), Grover (a satyr), and Tyson (a cyclops) confront their heroes, overcome monsters, and develop their fighting abilities. The book was on the Amazon Children’s and the Publisher’s Weekly Facts and Figures bestsellers lists, and it has been translated into 29 languages.

This guide follows the 2008 first edition hardback published by Hyperion Books for Children.

Plot Summary

Percy attends an orientation at Goode High School that goes awry when disguised monsters attack him and set the school on fire. With the help of the mortal Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Percy evades harm.

Percy and Annabeth go to Camp Half-Blood to tell the campers about Luke’s plan to invade. At camp, Grover stands trial for not finding the god Pan. During a war game designed by the new mysterious sword master Quintus, Percy and Annabeth accidentally stumble into the Labyrinth. Convinced that Luke (the son of Hermes) and the Titan army are looking for a route towards this entrance, Annabeth devises an official quest that leads the campers into the maze towards Daedalus’s workshop.

Annabeth, Percy, Tyson, and Grover make their way through the Labyrinth, encountering monsters, gods with their own agendas, and the trickery of the Labyrinth itself. Throughout the quest, Percy has dreams of Daedalus’s misfortunes and of Luke’s plans for invasion. The Labyrinth leads the group to different locales where they must labor for monsters and gods to receive hints about Daedalus’s location. The group crosses paths with Nico (son of Hades), who is on his own mission to resurrect his sister with the help of the ghost of King Minos. The questers split into pairs so they can find Daedalus and Pan.

On a side-mission for Hephaestus, Percy causes Mount St. Helens to erupt, which lands him on the island of Ogygia alone with Calypso (daughter of Atlas). As he heals, he contemplates the looming war, but decides he must return to the real world to help his friends. Percy reunites with Annabeth, and the two recruit Rachel Elizabeth Dare to lead them to Daedalus’s workshop with her clear-sight abilities. After a brief collision with Luke in a fighting arena, the group meet Daedalus—an automaton and spy for Luke—who has been Quintus all along. However, King Minos double-crosses Nico, and Kronos double-crosses Daedalus, bringing both half-bloods to fight alongside Percy.

Percy sees Kronos regain his form by using Luke as a vessel, but Nico traps the Titan in his palace. Grover finds the god Pan, who gives Grover a new purpose before fading from existence. Unable to stop the Titan army from using Ariadne’s String, the questers return to Camp Half-Blood and fight off the monster invasion with the help of some heroes who have had a change of heart. Daedalus chooses to die, destroying the Labyrinth.

Percy and his friends, left with the deadly realities of the battle and the quest, try to enjoy the rest of the summer. Percy returns to the mortal world for the school year, but Poseidon and Nico visit to share new information on unresolved threats that lie ahead for Percy and the rest of the mythological world.